In Search of Rationality in Human Longevity and Immortality

Introduction

Let us start with two prehistoric quotes on aging and longevity. Hippocrates in 400 BC said:

All parts of the body which have a function if used in moderation and exercised in labors in which each is accustomed, become thereby healthy, well developed and age more slowly; but if unused and left idle they become liable to disease, defective in growth, and age quickly.

-(As quoted in Ferrucci and Simonsick, 2006[23])

The other quote is from Chanakya, who in 250 BC, as the principal Minister of Maurya Emperor Chandragupta put up a set of social rules widely known as Chanakya Niti and also economic rules known as Kautiyla’s Arthasastra. Chanakya Niti is elaborated in 17 chapters, and the following quote from one of them is relevant in the present context of human longevity:

Ayuhu karma cha vittam cha vidya nidhanmeva cha.

Panchaitani hi shrijjyante garbhasthasaiva dehinah.

-(As quoted in Davies and Murthy, 2006[15])

(Translated to mean: The five crucial features of human beings: duration of life span, profession, wealth, education, and time of passing away, are all predetermined while entering the mother’s womb.)

Longevity as suggested by the first quote is one of the established techniques being used at present. The second one, however, opines that our longevity, along with four others aspects (work, wealth, knowledge, and time of death), is finalized once we enter the mother’s womb. Our genes as the intrinsic scientific basis for longevity were confirmed only in the last century. The emphasis of this paper, however, is that longevity has a deeper root and cannot simply be addressed from a materialistic view-point.

Due to impermanency of this world, the Indian scripture says this living body, like any other living animal in the world, is impermanent, and subjected to decay, passing through the following six stages, being the so-called shara-vikara or 6-fold essential changes from birth to death:

jayate athi bardhate biparinmate abkhyate nasyate.

(Translated to mean: After birth, one continues to exist, develop, mature, deteriorate, and finally collapse, which is the end of everything.)

It is, therefore, not worth living this life any longer once its purpose is fulfilled. Hence, the message is that we are required to keep alive through proper maintenance till our goal is fulfilled. This is one of the most popular understandings of Vedanta philosophy and is meant to indicate the impermanency of all worldly matter with reference to the supreme reality, which is the only permanent, being everlasting one in the universe.

Aging and Commitment to Unselfish Love

Aging brings on a cascade of ills and health problems leading to deterioration of physical, mental, emotional, and social dimensions of life. It has two dimensions, internal and external. The former is hereditary while the latter is environmental. Weakening of physical and mental abilities is inevitable. External conditions such as activity, nutrition, and life style can be controlled and regulated. As organisms age, they slowly breakdown, experience tissue death and general malfunction. Our internal structure tends to become increasingly disordered: this is very similar to a machine’s wear and tear. Though initially self-repairing, the body undergoes a continued decrease in immunity with age, leading to the ultimate collapse of the body’s immune system.

Aging is the active result of a life span regulation mechanism. It is for adaptation and evolution of the species. If the older generation did not die, it would not allow the species to advance because the older generations would continue to procreate and advance the older gene pool generation after generation. Hence, through elimination of such older gene pool, the species advances. While other species advance strictly by improving their gene pool in terms of physical adaptation, human advance is not just according to physical traits, but according to what they know and how they interact, meaning knowledge and experience, which are becoming more important for the survival of humanity. It is this experience that human beings can manipulate and thereby alter limiting factors that are inbuilt in their bodies.

All ages beyond 30 years are not equally vulnerable to death (Siddiqi, 2006[48]). While on the other hand Vaillant, 2008[60], says, “The average longevity of major American companies is <40 years; great personal fortunes rarely survive more than three generations; few nations and still fewer dynasties have lasted for more than 300 years. In contrast, the world’s great religions …share two things in common: they are all based, in part, upon a commitment to unselfish love and they have all endured for more than 1400 years.” Vaillant has made some crucial observations one can hardly deny. It is a fact that more liberal and philanthropic persons are more acceptable to a wider cross-section of people. Hence, the secret, as he has generalized, is positive attitude. This is elaborated upon more in connection with my discussion on spirituality later in this paper. This “commitment to unselfish love” has a deep root, which can be traced back to the Rig Veda (Bose, 1999a[9]), where, in the so-called samgnan sukta of social harmony, it is stated that if we speak, aim, and assemble with our mind and heart united, we can happily live together indefinitely.

Sam gacchadhwam sam vadaddhwam sam wo manansi janatam

Deva bagam yatha purve sajjananam upasate.

This when translated means: Let us all think, speak, and work together, commonly termed as “manasa, vacha, and karmana” since all the gods and Gods and Goddesses have shown that to us all along. (This harmony is the basic principle of creation of the universe and that is why it is advised for success in work – one’s feeling and speaking must be in unison with work – in scripture this is commonly termed manasa, vacha, and karmana.)

This has been further elaborated in the Yajur Veda (Bose, 1999b[10]):

Vraten diksham apnoti, dikshya apnoti dakshinam

Dakshina shradham apnoti, shradhya satyam apyote

(Translated to mean: Diksha starts with vrata [self-dedication] to a higher ideal, from there one attains Diksha [devotion], and then comes Dakshina [grace] on its own, then Sraddha [reverence] which leads to the ultimate reality. [Note: There are two ways of living this life, one is Viksha or begging, and the other is Diksha, which means elevating/upgrading oneself, i.e. making oneself prepared in body–mind complex for acceptance so that things come to oneself on their own accord]).

It may be pertinent to mention here that Ramakrishna Mission, set up by Swami Vivekananda in 1897 continues to flourish as it adopted the above-mentioned principle of “commitment to unselfish love” through offering society four categories of services, namely, anna daan, prana daan, vidya daan, and jnana daan (relief, health, education, and spiritual knowledge).

Human Aging and the Automobile Analogy

The human body goes through a variety of changes as it gets older. In general, muscles, blood vessels, and other tissues lose their elasticity. The heart becomes less efficient, bones become weaker, and metabolism slows down. “Natural” death, for most of us, occurs not because of the sudden failure of all 60 trillion cells of our body, but because a critical component stops working, for example, brain, heart, and lungs. It is just like the strength of a chain is judged by its weakest link.

The life of a car depends on four elements: design/structure, accidents, maintenance, and, finally, aging. If the car has design/structural flaws, it is involved in a major accident, or is poorly maintained, it will not have the chance to get old, but will be afflicted before that as one of the above factors comes into play. The same four categories apply to the human organism, but are more appropriately designated, respectively, by genes, internal factors, external factors, and aging. These four, occurring in innumerable combinations and chronologies, account for the totality of the human health experience. If the first two of these four factors could be stabilized through a perfect design and gene set, if there were no accidents or external disruptions, and if there were ideal maintenance and balanced internal dynamics, we could have the opportunity to die of natural causes after reaching the limit of our potential.

Aging of the body, like that of a machine, or a car, appears to be a maintenance problem of wear and tear of sense vigour as discussed above (Kathopanishad, Radhakrishnan, 1953[45]), and so it could perhaps be postponed through frequent and careful maintenance including balanced use of all the sensory organs before visible breakdown. The natural decay of organs with aging can be slowed down through such balanced and regulated use. Aging, among other things, is predominantly caused by random accumulation of damage in human organism’s cells, worsening thereby functioning of regulatory systems such as central nervous system and endocrine system. Hence, health maintenance and preventive measures can contribute markedly to the maintenance of independent function and quality of life in the elderly individual. As aging is basically a physical deterioration, and because damage accumulates faster than it can be repaired, there now exist both programmed and non-programmed theories of aging based on maintenance and repair functions. Living organisms possess extensive maintenance and repair functions that act to repair damage. This is a major difference between living organisms and nonliving entities. However, one should be cautious with this analogy that it is not simply wear and tear.

Apart from having the ability to self-constructand self-repair, all organisms have a sense of self-awareness (atma-bodh, meaning conscious of self), which is true for all animates, namely, plants and animals (lower and higher), not just human beings. This self-awareness is more than and beyond all algorithmic reasoning of artificial intelligence; it is something that an inanimate cannot have. Patanjali Yogasutra (Iyengar, 2002[30]) elaborates upon this:

Avidyasmita-raga-dveshabhiniveshah kleshah II.3.

(Translated to mean: Lack of self-awareness has been classified into five distinct categories, and it is the root cause of human suffering. They are avidyâ [lack of wisdom], asmita [the sense of “I,” attachments], raga [passion], dvesha [aversion], and abhinivesh [clinging to life]. [A Yogi, on the other hand, by detaching from these earthly attachments, including removing the self-feeling, tries to be one with the cosmic self]).

Living beings construct themselves out of raw materials starting from a microscopic cell. If they can construct themselves, why can they not also repair themselves? Repair and maintenance certainly seem much easier to do than original construction. The body has a host of self-repair and self-maintenance processes, which machines basically do not have; hence we are not really machines at all, at least not only machines. The body is a great deal more complicated than any human-made machine — and what is more, we did not design it, so to understand it we have to reverse engineer its workings, i.e. starting from the bottom, from the simplest to the present complex state.

One might point out that there could be some general limits to the ability of an organism to perform self-repair. Once this limit is reached, damage would accumulate. This perhaps explains why the human experience of aging so precisely resembles our automobile experience. Some mechanisms that have been suggested as “causing” aging in humans, such as oxidation (discussed later), are very similar to the mechanisms that cause aging in automobiles. Human appearance changes are similar to those of an automobile. Colours fade and become less uniform, and performance deteriorates. Similarly, human skin sags, wrinkles. In addition, performance deteriorates with age, becoming weaker and slower. It is a biological wearing out process resulting out of incrementally accumulated damage. Like the malfunction of car parts, a person may develop malfunction of different organs such as liver, kidneys, and sensory organs. The “accumulation of damage theories” for biological aging generally believes that there is no possible treatable common factor in aging. These include free radicals theory, DNA damage theory, cross-linking theory, wear and tear theory, theory of error catastrophe, somatic mutation theory, and living theory, all of which are often classified under two major categories, namely, programmed theories and error theories (Gao et al., 2014[27]; Bengtson et al., 2009[4]; Aledo et al., 2011[1]; de Magalhaes and Church, 2006[34]; and Freitas and de Magalhaes, 2011[26]).

The other category is called psychosocial theory of aging which is discussed later under spirituality. I believe that the factor common to all the various manifestations of aging—accumulation of damage—seems to be a fundamental property of life. Perhaps, treatments can be found for individual manifestations of malfunctions such as heart disease, cancer, and stroke, but there is no possible treatment at present for the common factors in aging. Studies on longevity are, however, trying to find these though it remains a challenge requiring a multidisciplinary approach comprising, among others, biologists, biochemists, and computer scientists.

Some Scientific Perspective on Aging

Three causes of aging have been identified: Failure of cellular mechanisms, decreasing secretion of body hormones, and environmental factors such as quality of diet, lack of body movement, and perhaps also lack of proper knowledge/utilization of these and other entities. Our biological clock is ticking away at a predetermined rate. Hence, the cells’ genetic material, DNA, appears to hold the key to our planned demise from day one (Franklin and Tate, 2009[25]). However, biology is not destiny. One cannot change genes, but can slow their march or delay them with better nutrition, regular physical activity, etc., as discussed later. Aging happens due to a discrepancy between the rate of biological damage and the rate of repair. Any intentional attempt making the equalization of the rate of damage versus repair more likely would result in retardation of aging. If all the causes of aging can be addressed using biotechnological solutions, human beings might be able to live for thousands of years (of course, only if they do not die by unnatural means).

Biology has a general tendency to advance from simple to complex sophistication, whereas physics has an opposite tendency, from complex to simple (Mitteldorf, 2010[40]). Physical laws of thermodynamics seek a state of lowest energy, i.e. minimal entropy. Biology and physics are apparently entangled in an overall balance. To influence this balance, we need to reduce the impact of physical laws and/or strengthen our biological assets. Complexity declines with age due to the accumulation of damage within that which is not repaired because of limited available energy resources in the body. On the other hand, organisms, while young in their growth phase, become stronger and more robust; no physical law can prohibit this progress from continuing indefinitely. However, physical laws, if applied in a suitable manner, may ultimately enhance understanding in biology as can be seen in the application of the law of thermodynamics to aging (Mitteldorf, 2010[40]). Many aspects of aging, for example, oxidative damage, somatic mutations, and protein cross-linkage are characterized by increased entropy in biomolecules. A fundamental understanding of aging should proceed not from physics but from an evolutionary perspective: the body is being permitted to decay because systems of repair and regeneration that are adequate to build and rebuild a body of ever-increasing resilience are being held back.

Gene-evolved Mechanism

Many researchers seem to suggest that aging is due to genes of a similar kind, which are responsible for the timing of our aging and our death (Mathur et al., 2011[36]). The DNA protein structure situated at the tail of chromosomes called telomere is regarded as a bio-marker of aging. It is dependent on various factors including physical activity, socioeconomic status, parental age at the time of the offspring, and multivitamin intake. However, this telomere length parameter has not yet fulfilled the criteria of the American Federation for Ageing Research (Mathur et al., 2011[36]), although it is more precise than chronological age marking. Challenges of future research on telomeres will be as follows:

1. It must predict the rate of aging and should be able to predict exactly where a person is in his/her total life span

2. It must retard, even reverse, the aging process

3. It must be replicable

4. It must be validated in laboratory animals before being validated in humans.

Out of the daily intake of energy, some might go to growth, some to physical work and movement, and some to reproduction. Some energy, instead, might be stored as fat to protect against an emergency, but much gets burned just to fix the innumerable faults that arise every second to keep the organism alive. Another segment of these scarce resources goes to proofread the genetic code involved in the continual synthesis of new proteins and other essential molecules. And still another allocation powers the energy-hungry garbage disposal mechanisms that clear molecular debris out of the way. If the normal bodily functioning gets compromised to the extreme, death ensues. As soon as the specialist cells surrendered the role of continuing the species, they also abandoned any need for immortality; they could die after the body had passed on its genetic legacy through the germ line to the next generation. “No biological software program, then, dictates precisely when it is time to die, but growing evidence suggests that certain genes can nonetheless influence how long we live” (Kirkwood, 2010[31]).

It is not a fact that genes are fixed agents of determinism that largely regulate who we are and what we will become. It is not that specific genes control specific functions and determine specific health outcomes, for example, the onset of a great many diseases as well as our life span. First, genes must be “expressed.” What that means is that they are like switches that must be turned on to perform their designated functions. An even better way of thinking about it is to think of genes as functioning like a “dimmer” switch, with variable responsivity, not just a simple “on-off” switch, as in an electronic circuit. Second, genes typically act in concert, in groups, or even networks. Genes are rarely intended to function independently. They work in coordinated ensembles, which in turn are closely matched with biochemical metabolic complexes. Hormones are important modulators. Genes are functionally de-localized and structurally entangled. Genes are plastic and dynamic as discovered by Barbara McClintock, the 1963 Nobel laureate in medicine. It has been said that “genes are often redundant” as quoted in Bortz and Stickrod, 2010[8] so that the notion of one gene for one function is simply not valid. If genes were the only factor determining our health status, and the other three agencies were only negligible factors in ensuring health, identical twins would die more or less simultaneously of the same disease. But, the actual situation is far from the case. It is now generally assumed that the genetic contribution to our overall health and our prospects for longevity fall within a range around 20%–25% (Bortz and Stickrod, 2010[8]).

Accumulation of Damage Mechanism

Aging is a fundamental property of life and an unavoidable adverse side effect of a necessary process. The structural proteins, enzymes, and tissues do not always behave as they are supposed to, though the molecular machinery handling all of this is highly sophisticated for self-maintenance and repair with a capability to get rid of more serious mistakes. Like the people who possess them, molecules sometimes make mistakes in the jobs they perform. These errors can have deleterious consequences for the organism. It is believed that one of those consequences is the aging process, inadvertent generation of a reactive set of molecules termed free radicals. All of our life processes begin at the cellular level, so also our health and wellness. Mitochondria are the energy factories of the cells. The aging process involves incremental damage to cells through oxidation, coupled with the accumulation of toxins from metabolism, food, and environment. Like most manufacturing processes, this energy production factory also produces toxic waste. Glucose is burned in the powerhouses of the cells known as mitochondria to generate 90% of the energy used in the cell, while also producing free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS or free radicals).

Glucose + Oxygen → Energy + Carbon Dioxide + Water

The production of free radicals by mitochondria extracts energy from food and converts it into adenosine triphosphate (ATP, a complex nanomachine that serves as the primary energy currency of the cell). ATP is a form of energy usable directly by the cell and it is at the root of much of the aging process (Bortz and Stickrod, 2010[8]). Each animal cell contain anywhere from a few 100 to more than 1000 mitochondria. Mitochondria are important as they supply all the necessary biological energy to the cell. They are referred to as the “power houses” of the cell. Well-functioning mitochondria are crucial to normal healthy existence. However, because of minute imperfections of biological chemistry, oxygen is transmuted into damaging free oxygen radicals or oxidants (Kirkwood, 2011[32]). This is not like smoke from a chimney or some kind of odd organic molecule, but Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). The problems created by storing toxic ROS molecules are the same as encountered when storing any kind of hazardous waste. If ROS molecules are allowed to hang around inside a cell, they can create a tremendous amount of damage. One percent of the oxygen we consume turns into ROS (Wu, 2004[63]). The gastrointestinal tract, especially the stomach with its highly acidic environment, is constantly generating ROS from food. Billions of free radicals are being produced in the body at any time. But, metabolism is not the only source of oxidants. They are also created by the so-called ionizing radiation, such as ultraviolet radiation in sunlight. This free radical damage, similar to the oxidizing rusting of metal, adds up, causing tissues and organs to deteriorate with age. Like a lot of industrial waste, these reactive species can indiscriminately damage anything that gets in their way. Protein is especially vulnerable to attack by free radicals since much of the cell’s structure is protein. In spite of their destructive power, the body in fact uses free radicals for useful purposes, for example, their homicidal power is used by the white blood cells to destroy invading organisms. Free radicals play a role in the synthesis of major biomolecules—proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids and in the detoxification of chemicals inside organelles in the interior of cells. Free radical reactions play a role in the generation of cellular energy in the mitochondria. Two types of damage have been identified (Kirkwood, 2010[31]): damages in the cell DNA and also in the energy-forming unit of mitochondria. Very sophisticated molecular circuitry controls the level of damage till the cell locks itself against division while performing the essential functions of the body.

Free radicals are thus indispensable to life, but they need to be managed so that their usefulness outweighs their destructiveness. Further, our state of mind and susceptibility to stress can actually contribute to our level of oxidative damage. Too much stress can increase our oxidation damage and overwork our immune system. Inflammation is a consequence of the accumulation of toxins in the body, and this global inflammation characteristic of the aging process is associated with the reduced capacity to cope with immune stressors, resulting in a weakening of related enzyme systems and progressive increase in pro-inflammation. Contributors to low-level chronic inflammation include smoking, alcohol, fatty foods, refined carbohydrates and sugars, pollution, pharmaceutical by-products, lack of exercise, and stress. Modern human is becoming increasingly “denatured” due to heavy metal poisoning, oxidation, and inflammation because of a cooked diet, mineral deficiency, and phytochemical deprivation.

The Manipulation of Aging: Objective and Subjective

As said earlier, one is as strong as one’s weakest link. It, therefore, follows that raising one or more of the baselines of entire health could reduce the overall weakness. So, let me first consider and look into how this is handled through techniques of the biosciences.

Bioscience Techniques

Hormonal Interventions

Hormones are very heavily involved in growth, reproduction, digestion, nutrient utilization, and many other normal biological processes. Observed concentrations of many hormones vary with age. They work in pairs or even in larger groups. Hormones produced by different glands are known to interact in complex ways. Negative feedback is almost always a part of mechanical or electronic control systems’ stability (Terman, 1955[57]). In the context of aging, a hormone might cause a tissue to age. The important one is human growth hormone (HGH) which is secreted by the anterior lobe of pituitary. It also stimulates cells in the liver to secrete polypeptide molecules known as somatomedins, the most studied one is insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). HGH with IGE-1 influences many systems of our body such as muscular development, connective tissue growth and repair, skeletal strength and structure, and regulation of various metabolic functions. However, there are some hormones such as growth hormone (GH), IGF-1, which inhibit aging in a tissue that was otherwise programmed to age. In all species examined to date, endocrine manipulations slow aging without concurrent costs in reproduction, but increases in stress resistance (Tatar et al., 2003[58]). HGH has also been used as an anti-aging treatment for a long time, and beneficial effects have been observed: for example, elderly claim to feel younger (Barzilai and Bartke, 2009[3]). But, there have been negative effects such as weight gain, high blood pressure, diabetes, and faster growth of cancer, if there be any (Robson, 2015[46]). Other hormones whose bodily production decreases with age include dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and melatonin. DHEA has been reported to improve well-being in the elderly through improved memory, immune system, muscle mass, etc., but it is again problematic with certain types of cancer. It is the most abundant steroid hormone in the body and is also one of the most significant age-related biomarkers. Patients with prostate cancer have lower levels of DHEA (Dean, 2013[16]). Melatonin hormone made in the pineal gland declines significantly as we age, its production trigger being total darkness. It is a circadian rhythm hormone, thereby affecting the patterns of sleep. It is also claimed to be associated with aging and life extension. The benefits of its supplementation include enhanced immune system, antioxidant capabilities, better sleep, and mood elevation (Barzilai and Bartke, 2009[3]). Estrogen, a popular anti-aging therapy for women generally used with other hormones in hormone replacement therapy, is claimed to reduce the effects of menopause, as also protecting against heart disease and osteoporosis, but could increase the risk of breast cancer and may lead to weight gain and thrombosis as side effects (Megalhaise[38]). It may be mentioned in passing here that, on an average, it takes about 12 years from the discovery of molecular mechanisms to the development of a drug plus 10 years of clinical tests to make a drug available. In the case of aging medication, the time scale may be longer (PHARMA, 2007[44]; Kirkwood, 2010a[31]).

Concluding Remarks (See Figure 1)

1. Examination of the scientific perspectives on aging with some common manipulations permits longevity, but there is a need to upgrade mental, emotional, and social dimensions of life. This requires fixing a meaningful goal of life early in one’s career so as to upgrade attitude through value-based activity without blind submission to sensory enjoyment.

2. From the perspective of the four human developments, our physical body is the grossest; there is no ultimate solution to stop its decay. Death is definite. Even when death occurs, a small fraction of our cells have already marched toward the future through our children produced through ova and sperms.

3. Dedicated scientific researches would certainly be there to further longevity, but a change in attitude as mentioned could perhaps make the end more rewarding and satisfying. Science has done a great deal in all these fronts: calorie restriction, vitamin and antioxidant treatment, exercise, and hormonal interventions, etc. But, for fruitful progress, one needs to upgrade attitude through value-based activity without blind submission to sensory enjoyment.

4. On the other hand, the great intellectual development of Tagore, Einstein, etc., is indeed subtle and lasts for centuries; while the subtlest spiritual message of Buddha, Christ, and many other spiritual teachers as demonstrated in their lives are eternally true and everlasting. The litterateurs, artists, and scientists are remembered for their lasting creations. Good scientific work keeps on getting citations for many years.

Take Home Message

• The ultimate goal in life is longevity with well-being.

• Developing and maintaining goal-oriented sustainable good habits are of importance not only for long-term healthy well-being, but also for healthy genetic modification and for liberation from bondage. This is Abhyasa and Vairagya (habit and renunciation) often referred to in scriptures (Bhar, 2014[6]).

• As it has far reaching consequences, one should keep in mind involvement in welfare activities at gross worldly or subtle level (Editor, 1973[19]).

• Physical immortality is impracticable. Though remarkable progress has been made on the identified major causes of aging, namely, failure of cellular mechanisms, decreasing secretion of body hormones, and environmental factors such as quality of diet and lack of body movement, one has to accept limitations, and within that limitation, one must play one’s role so that he/she is remembered for that act.

• Different parts of the body grow old at different rates. “It is when our physiological activities begin to weaken that our minds attain the summit of development” says Carrel, (Carrel[11]). Only at this time do our insight, judgment, reasoning and perspective develop and mature. So, one is required to fruitfully utilize the time in creative and idealistic activities as supported by age-old Hippocrates’ concept (as quoted in Ferrucci and Simonsick, 2006[23]) and in neuroplasticity as well (Bhar 2014[6]).

Questions that this Paper Raises

1. Is living longer, if not indefinitely, possible through careful and cautious control of active living habits?

2. Does trouble-free longevity need to be explored through need-based researches?

3. Is it worth living longer for life’s sake without a definite purpose?

4. Is there a need to fix a goal of life early in career to pursue?

5. Can we not be happy with what we have achieved with fruitful utilization, rather than invite unhappiness through hankering for more?

6. What type of scientific research into telomeres, genetics, antioxidants, diet, lifestyle modifications, etc., will prove key factors in our search for longevity with well-being?

About the Author

Dr. G. C. Bhar is one of the pioneers of laser researches in India and, according to CSIR (National Institute for Science and Technological Development Studies). He tops the list of 10 identified prolific authors in experimental laser research and applications in the first 25 years of laser researches in India. After his Doctorate in Laser Physics from Southampton University under a Commonwealth Fellowship in 1973, he set up a Laser Laboratory at his parent Burdwan University, which earned prestigious research collaborations e.g. Indo-USSR, Indo-US, Indo-Japan and Indo-Israel. The UGC, through its evaluation, graded this laboratory as one of the best in India in 1990. He is credited with about 150 publications mostly in international peer reviewed journals and his papers have so far earned over 1200 worldwide citations. On retirement from Burdwan University he joined the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University (RKM) at Belur as a Research Professor (Honorary) working on Philosophy of Sciences. Some of his recent publications include: ‘Laws of Karma and Thermodynamics’, ‘Roles of Brain and Heart in Life Management’. ‘Time, Our Constant Companion’, ‘Mind and its Control: Scientific and Vedantic Viewpoints’, ‘In Search of Possible Physical Laws in Spirituality’ etc.